


'I Won't Leave Until You're Gone.'

by ClaraKing404



Series: Mr Loverman [2]
Category: Dream Team - Fandom
Genre: College AU, DNF, M/M, airport, dream team, dreamnotfound
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29697645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaraKing404/pseuds/ClaraKing404
Summary: (a sequel to my other book - Mr Loverman)a dnf fanfic set in the year 2023, George was told to get on a plane from Florida back to London, but when he doesn't, everything goes wrong...
Relationships: Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: Mr Loverman [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2182107
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	1. 'Why Are You Here?'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> someone turns up at Clay's doorstep...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, before you start reading, I would just like to thank everyone who has read and left kudos on my previous book - Mr Loverman. It makes me really happy to see that people enjoy my work. Anyway, I hope to get chapters out more frequently than I did with the last book. Enjoy!

Clay sighed as he walked to the door and absent-mindedly swung it open and greeted whoever it was with a dead “Hello.” “Clay?” a familiar voice rang through the taller boy's ears. 

Clay immediately looked down and saw George standing on his doorstep. “George? Why are you here? You’re supposed to be on the plane to London! Your parents are gonna be so mad…” Clay felt guilty for some reason. “I don’t want to leave.” George protested, “so I didn’t get on the plane.” “George, you do realise just how hard it’s gonna be to get you a flight to replace the one you missed, right?” Clay was slightly mad at George. “We can’t get you one for tomorrow.” Clay started scrolling through his phone at the flights he could book. All of the flights he saw were full. He hoped some people would cancel the flight within the five or so minutes they were going to stand at the door for, but he got no luck. “I don’t want to go back.” George walked up to his friend and hugged him again. “George-” Clay pulled the clingy boy off him. “Can I please stay here?” George was confused; he never knew Clay acted like this. He was confused as to why Clay was acting as though the things that happened just a few hours ago didn’t happen.” George looked around while he waited for his friend to reply. 

“Fine.” Clay eventually replied. He sighed as he let George walk in. He helped him with a few other bags he had with him that he recognised from his college when George had first arrived and when he had left. “Are you ok? You seem a bit mad…” George trailed off. “Yeah, I am a bit mad. You’re here while I still have to do school, you can’t legally be here because you don’t have a visa. I’m sorry, but you can’t stay here.” Clay looked at the floor; he didn’t like talking to George like this. “Well, where do I go then?” George looked up at his friend with a hopeful look on his face. Clay sighed and looked at his phone. “You’ll have to stay here until the third of July. I’ve booked you the earliest flight available.” Clay continued to sound annoyed as he walked to the side to let George in. “Thanks…” George started to head towards the living room. 

“You can stay in the spare room. There’s a bed and a set of drawers in there.” Clay sat down next to Patches who had left the sofa upon seeing George. “Oh… you’re cat is here.” George crouched down next to Patches and started playing with her like he did the day before. “Yeah… he seems to like you.” Clay mumbled, looking up from his phone slightly to watch George play with the cat. “Uh… I’ll go and unpack my things.” George walked down the hall and into the room with a spare bed and a set of drawers which he assumed was the room Clay was talking about earlier. He jumped when he heard a bell jingle at the door. “Patches!” George smiled as the cat leapt onto the bed and curled up in a space in the sun. “Tell me if she gets annoying!” George heard his friend shout from the other room. He knew Patches wouldn’t get annoying but he kept in mind Clay was there if she was. “Ok!” George shouted back. 

After about twenty minutes of unpacking and being distracted by Patches, George had managed to unpack most of his things. The only thing he had left was his keyboard, which he would either sort out later or get Clay to do it for him. George looked at the time. It read 12:34. He got up and started heading for the kitchen. “Do you need anything?” Clay looked up from his phone as soon as he saw George walk through the door. “Uhh… yeah, do you have anything I could eat?” George asked hesitantly; he had just appeared at his friend’s house without warning and now he was asking for food. It was a bit rude in his opinion but he needed to eat  _ something _ . “Yeah… there should be bread somewhere and there’s some salad in the fridge.” George nodded and turned towards the kitchen to make himself a sandwich. 

While he was standing by the counter, George felt something soft brush past his legs. He looked down and saw Patches walking around. “Are you hungry?” George looked at the cat, who just stared back up at him. “If she looks like she wants food, just leave her!” Clay shouted from the kitchen, “I have specific times a day when I feed her.” Clay finished. George looked down at the cat for a few more seconds before picking up her water bowl and filling it up and putting it back on the floor again. George then turned to the counter to make his lunch and take it to his room to eat; he wasn’t sure if his presence was making Clay very happy. 

George looked around his room. It was fairly empty; Clay probably never paid much attention to it. George sighed as he saw patches walk through the door. She walked up to the bed and sat next to George. He looked down at the cat before looking out the window at the passing cars and birds that flew by. George was starting to regret missing that plane. “George?” Clay shouted from the living room. George put down his plate and started heading to the living room. “Yeah?” George responded. “You’re definitely going back to England on the third of July.” Clay reassured. “Ok… thank you.” Even though George was regretting not getting on that plane, something in his still didn’t want to leave. “Are you ok?” The taller boy asked. “Yeah… I just regret not getting on the plane back to London. I’ve caused you a bit of trouble.” George mumbled. “No, it’s fine. I have enough things for two people to stay here. Just, don’t get in the way if I need to go to school or something.” Clay ordered .  “Ok.” George replied. 

The two sat in silence until Patches walked in, making a noise with the bell on her collar. She walked up to Clay and sat back down on George’s jacket. “Oh! You left your jacket here a few days ago.” Clay was reminded. “Patches has been using it as a bed though…” Clay mentioned quietly. George couldn’t help but laugh at something for once. “You’ll be taking me to the airport when I go back, right?” George asked. “Yeah, and I think this time I’ll actually watch you get on the plane. Or at least past security.” Clay tried to smile. “Yeah… I’m sorry, again.” George looked at his feet. “It really doesn’t matter, George. Just, you can’t stay here for too long. You don’t have a visa.” George looked up at Clay with a bored look on his face. He was clearly fed up with this conversation. “What?” Clay was confused. “Stop bringing up the visa thing.” George muttered. “Oh… sorry. Do you want a visa?” Clay hesitantly asked. “I’m not sure yet. I mean, it would be cool. I could live here if I did… but I would either have to take a test or get married to someone here.” George knew exactly what Clay was going to say next. 

“Well, you can just get married to me, right?” Clay laughed a bit. “Yeah- no.” George stated, also laughing. “It’s just for the visa, George.” That’s what George didn’t like about it. It was  _ just for the visa. _ Nothing else. “Yeah… I’ll think about it.” George finished. Patches jumped off the blue jacket and George took it as quick as he could. “Sorry…” Clay laughed again. “It’s fine, I like cats anyway.” George stated. “Uh… random question but… why  _ are  _ you here?” Clay asked again. “Like I said before, I didn’t want to leave but now that I’m here and you’re mad and my parents will be mad… I kind of regret coming back here.” George trailed off at the end. “I’m not mad… I’m just slightly annoyed you came back without a warning.” Clay reassured. “Yeah… but my parents will be.” George looked at the floor. “Just explain to them what happened.” Clay suggested. “Yeah… I don’t know if that’s going to work. They’ll still be mad.” George sighed. 

Clay looked at the floor, then over to Patches who had somehow got onto the counter in the kitchen and was now licking an empty plate that was sitting by the sink. “Oh, come on.” Clay half-shouted as he walked over to the cat to lift her off the counter. George giggled as he looked at his phone and scrolled through his messages. There was one that had been haunting him all day - ‘tell me when you get off the plane.’ It was a text from his mother that he wouldn’t answer for a while. “You ok, George?” Clay asked, still carrying Patches. “Yeah… I just have a text from my mum telling me to message her when I get off the plane.” George kept on somehow finding more and more problems for Clay to fix. “Oh… that’s- I don’t know what you can do to fix that…” Clay trailed off. 

“You’re gonna have to tell the truth.” Clay didn’t want his friend getting in trouble but there was no easy way around this. 


	2. Better Off Lying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clay and George argue some more and Clay has a nightmare

“I really don’t want to have to pester you to call your parents again, George… but this is important. You need to tell them or they’ll get worried.” Clay explained. “No… I’ll get in trouble. I’m better off just lying. I’ll tell them there was an unexpected hurricane and I won’t be able to fly for a couple of weeks.” George suggested. “I suppose you could… unless your parents would check the weather every five minutes.” Clay raised his eyebrows at George, knowing what his response would be. “Oh… yeah, they would.” George looked at the floor and tried to think of a solution. “Still thinking about lying?” Clay asked. “Yeah, actually. I’ll tell them an opportunity came up at the college or something.” George stated. “I guess that could work.” Clay said before silence settled between them again. 

“I’ll message my mum about it.” George told his friend quietly. 

They sat in almost complete silence for the next 3 hours or so. The only noise being the occasional meow from Patches who clearly didn’t like the lack of noise. “I’m going to bed.” George got up and started walking to his room. “George, it’s only seven.” Clay looked over at his friend. “Yeah, and I’m tired.” George mumbled before walking out of the room and into his own, shutting the door behind him. 

Clay sighed as he heard the door shut.  _ Alone again.  _ He looked at the clock again, then at the hallway. He looked down at the linoleum floor before getting up to sleep as well; he hadn’t slept much the night before. 

\--- 

_ I was looking down. There was a staircase below me. I knew exactly where I was. Let me give a wild guess. The college roof? I saw an assortment of lights in front of me. Called it. I looked out at the skyscrapers. Then I reminded myself that George would be arriving any second now.  _

But he never did. 

Clay looked around. He was slightly panicking. “George?” He tried calling his friend’s name but it was no use. George had left him on his own this time. There was no ‘dream’. It was just a nightmare. George wasn’t there and he wasn’t going to appear. Clay sat down on the cold concrete and sighed. This isn’t how he hoped it would go. He hoped he would see George walking towards him again. He wished George would have walked up to him and kissed him again. Clay looked up, expecting someone to be there, but the rooftop was empty. 

\---

Clay woke up, facing the plain white ceiling. He looked around, checking he wasn’t still in his dream… or on a rooftop. He lied back down, not bothering to check the time and fell back asleep. 

\--- 

The next few days passed slowly. George and Clay didn’t talk much. The only time they would speak is when Clay tells George he’s going to college. George sat in the empty house with Patches by his side. He was scrolling through Twitter and YouTube - one of the only things he had been doing recently. He wondered if Clay had told Nick and the others that he was still here. George immediately stopped scrolling when he heard keys in the door mixed with a set of voices that he recognised from somewhere. He put down his phone when the door opened and revealed the faces behind the voices. “George! We heard you were still here so we came back here to see you again!” Nick exclaimed as he walked through the doorway to the living room. “Oh… thanks Nick..!” George smiled for once. 

“Yeah, he was wondering why I was staying at home more often instead of just sleeping at the college.” Clay sighed. “Has Clay been very quiet at college recently?” George asked Nick, ignoring that Clay was still standing in the same room as them. “Oh… no, he’s been acting just like he used to before you arrived.” Nick looked at the floor; he didn’t like the old Clay, he was too quiet and never talked. “Why?” Nick looked back up. “He’s just been really quiet here.” George mumbled. “Yeah, that’s because I don’t talk to people once I’ve argued with them.” Clay mentioned quietly but angrily. “Look, it’s my choice whether I leave or not and how I decide to manage situations like this.” George argued back. Nick sighed; he knew what was coming next. “I’m only trying to do what’s best for you!” Clay half-shouted. “YOU’RE NOT!” George shouted back. Clay sighed and looked at the floor before walking upstairs to his room. 

“Is it ok if you help me and Clay with this, Nick?” George didn’t want to ruin their friendship over a petty argument. “Sure… I’ll try.” Nick replied. No one was feeling positive at that moment. “Can you explain what happened?” Nick asked in a soft voice, trying not to make George even more upset. “Yeah… when I left, I didn’t get on the plane… as soon as I saw Clay leave, I walked straight back out of the airport and I called a taxi to take me somewhere close to his house… I took the taxi and walked the rest of the way to here and then I knocked on the door… Clay didn’t know it was me at first but when he did find out…” George sadly looked back at what had happened the day before. “And… and he wasn’t happy when I was there… he was actually kind of mad at me…” George trailed off. “Oh… he can be like that sometimes. That’s just the way he is. He’ll get over it at some point this week.” Nick informed the smaller boy. 

It was nearing the end of June by this point and George was soon to go back home. He was relieved his parents hadn’t been too concerned about his excuse about staying in Florida for a little longer. “Oh… another thing that Clay keeps on doing is he keeps talking about getting me a visa.” George mumbled. “What’s so bad with that?” Nick tilted his head to one side. “He keeps on saying that we could get married and then I would legally have a visa and I would be able to work and live here.” George hated talking about this. “Oh… you know you could just fake the love part, right?” Nick suggested. “That’s the point.” George looked directly at the floor. “What do you mean?” Nick looked at his friend. 

“I don’t want to just  _ fake _ the love part. It just feels wrong.”

George continued looking at the floor. “I… oh…” Nick realised what George meant by that. “Yeah… it’s difficult though.” George sighed. “I understand…” Nick muttered. “You should tell him that.” Nick suggested. “I’m scared to.” George replied. “Oh… I can help.” Nick offered. “Yeah… that might help…” This was the first time George and Nick had had a proper conversation. “Thanks, Nick.” George smiled at his friend. “Anytime, man.” Nick smiled back before grabbing the remote and putting something on the tv to split the silence he knew would greet them soon after the conversation ended. About two hours of binging various series, George decided to go upstairs and check on Clay; he had been sitting up there alone for a long time. 

“Clay..?” George asked quietly as he knocked on the door. “What.” He heard a drained voice from the other side. “C-can we talk?” George asked with caution. “Whatever.” Clay replied. “Hey… I’m sorry for earlier. You were right. I should have just told the truth.” George mumbled. “It’s fine… you don’t have to agree with me to make me feel better.” Clay knew exactly what George was doing. “Yeah… I guess you know me too well.” George laughed lightly. “Uh… is Nick staying here overnight?” George asked. “Yeah… he could take the sofa if he’s ok with it.” Clay laughed a bit at the end. “I’ll go and ask him.” Clay got up from his bed and started walking through the hall and down the stairs. George sighed and started heading to his own room. He looked at the clock - it was late. It read 11:23. George’s eyes widened at how late it got so quickly. Eventually, George was lying in bed but not asleep; Nick and Clay were laughing loudly from downstairs. 

“You’re just gonna sleep there without a blanket or anything?” Clay was laughing at how quickly his friend had managed to get comfortable on a sofa. “Nope. It’s too hot in Florida.” Nick said with his eyes shut. “You’re an idiot.” Clay managed to say while laughing before walking away to his room. 


	3. Nightmares and Passing Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clay has yet another nightmare and George is taken to the airport

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been getting a few really nice comments on this book and my previous book - Mr Loverman - and it w=makes me so happy to see people are enjoying my book so thank you!! <3 anyway, this chapter is a good one I think. enjoy :]

Clay was walking up a set of stairs.  _ Nothing new again… it’s just the same old stairs.  _ Clay knew what was coming next. When he finished walking up the staircase, he saw a small dark figure sitting in the corner of the rooftop. The view wasn’t the same as before. There were no lights, no cars filling the uncomfortable silence. It was all just black. It looked just like a void. A few stars scattered here and there… apart from that, the tall building Clay was standing on was the only thing in this… realm? Clay had no idea what was happening. Something in his mind told him the person curled up in the corner was someone he knew. “Hello?” Clay edged closer to the figure. “Go away.” A British accent replied. “George? What happened?” Clay got worried. “WHAT HAPPENED?” George shouted back. “I-I don’t… I’m confused…” Clay stuttered. 

“Well, maybe if you cared, you wouldn’t be confused.” George replied, turning to face the void. 

“George… please tell me what happened… I could help.” Clay sat down next to the smaller boy. “How can you help… when it’s all your fault.” George got up and started walking away from Clay. “wh-what did I do?” Clay stood up but didn’t start walking just yet. “YOU NEVER LET ME DO WHAT I WANT!” George continued to shout things he claimed Clay had done. “George… I can’t remember any of this happening.” Clay’s eyes started to well up. George continued to loudly rant about things that never happened while Clay began to get bored. Clay sighed and started to walk away; he thought George wouldn’t notice. 

As he neared the stairs, Clay felt something pushing him back as if there was a barrier that was holding him off from the stairs. “You thought you could get away?” George slowly walked up to him. “George… I’m sorry… I don’t know what I did-” Clay was cut off by George’s shouting again. Clay tried to ignore most of it until George said something particularly loudly - “I’D BE BETTER IF WE HAD JUST NEVER MET!” George paused before continuing but before he could Clay woke up. 

He knew the whole thing was a dream; George would never say something like that… right? 

Clay slowly turned to his side to grab his phone from his bedside table. He squinted at the bright screen that took a while to adjust itself to the lack of light. He opened his previous messages with George and stared at the screen for a while. He eventually brought up the courage to start typing a message he had rehearsed in his head the night before. 

_ You’re not mad at me, right? _

Clay waited a few seconds before pressing send. When two ticks showed up next to the message, Clay turned his phone off, put it in his pocket and got out of his bed and went out into the hallway. He slowly walked towards the door at the end that led to a small balcony. He walked out and gazed out at the lines of streetlights and the long row of apartments that stood across the road. He looked up and saw the moon was out and there was a surprising amount of stars scattered around the sky. He stood there, admiring the view for a while before turning his phone back on and checking the time. It read 2:23 in white numbers. Clay sighed before turning around to walk back inside. 

“Ow… who is that?” Clay called out quietly into the dark hall. He had hit his head against someone else’s. “It’s me, man.” Nick whispered back. “What are you doing?!” Clay shout-whispered. “I came up here to tell you I was cold.” Nick adjusted his voice to be a quiet talk rather than a whisper. “Good to know, I’m going to bed.” Clay turned around and opened the door to his room. “What?” Nick held the door open. “”What do you want me to do about it?” Clay shrugged. “I don’t know, get me a blanket or something.” Nick replied as though his friend was dumb. “Whatever, there’s a blanket in one of the cupboards downstairs.” Clay replied before shutting the door in his friend’s face. Nick sighed and walked back downstairs. 

Clay got back in his bed and managed to get to sleep quickly without another weird dream or nightmare stopping him. 

\---

The days passed quickly; Nick had since left Clay’s house and had gone back to the college to stay there. This was the day Clay had been dreading for a long time now. George was leaving that day and nothing was going to stop him. The message he had sent him a few days before had been read and not yet replied to. George wasn’t the kind of person to leave a message on read. 

It was still really hot in Florida and that day was no exception. Clay had to find the thinnest white shirt he owned and even then it didn’t keep him that cool. George was wearing a blue and white raglan t-shirt and one of his many pairs of denim jeans. The houses that lined Clay’s side of the street had everyone out on their balconies with deck chairs or a small table. On the other side of the road, people were sitting out on the path that went past the apartments. Clay could hear shouts of his neighbours. He went out onto the balcony and saw Tommy screaming while running away from a bee again. He could clearly see that Tubbo was trying to help him but it wasn’t working. 

George was downstairs with his bags by the door, waiting for his friend to take him to the airport. Clay looked over at his street one more time before he walked down the hall to the stairs. He met George before walking out of the door with him. The two got into the car in silence. “Have you checked the weather?” George eventually spoke up. “Yeah… uh, there’s supposed to be some rain but nothing serious.” Clay was excited for the rain. It was just a shame he couldn’t stand outside his college in it with George again. “Ok… can you check it again when we get to the airport?” George sounded worried. “Sure.” Clay didn’t want to question why George was acting so worried. 

Sooner or later, the two boys arrived at the airport. Clay got out of the car and began taking George’s bags out of the back. “Are you ready to go home?” Clay tried smiling. “No.” George looked at the floor. “George… you can come back eventually.” Clay reassured. 

The pair began to walk towards the airport. George got his phone from his pocket and started typing a text. It was to his mother and it read -  _ I’m at the airport in Florida, should be home tomorrow.  _ George sighed as he pressed send. He didn’t want to go back to London but he knew he would only regret it if he just stayed in Florida for any longer. Clay continued to direct George to where his flight was taking off when he started conversation, “Is it ok if I take you to your flight? So I can wave goodbye properly this time?” He asked hesitantly. “Of course.” George smiled. “Oh, can you check the weather again?” George looked up at his friend. Clay rolled his eyes jokingly and got out his phone. 

It read:

\---------------------------

Be prepared: Hurricane 

Heavy wind and rain is likely to bring travel disruption.

-long delays and cancelations on bus, rail and air travel probably occurring.

-there is a good chance that roads may be flooded, with many stranded vehicles and passengers likely. 

-long interruptions to power supplies and other services, such as gas, water telephone and mobile coverage likely. 

\---------------------------

“George…” 


	4. Stuck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> George and Clay end up stuck at the airport due to the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a short chapter but it's pretty important to the storyline.

“George…” Clay turned to face his friend as he stopped in his tracks. “Yeah?” George looked back at his friend. “There- it’s- just look at my phone.” Clay handed George his phone that still had the weather report lighting up the screen. George’s face fell at the lines of black writing on the screen. “Clay… this wasn’t there before.” George leaned his head to the side. “Yeah… well it is now.” Clay looked at the floor; he knew George’s flight would be cancelled, and even if it wasn’t, he wouldn’t let George on the plane in the middle of a hurricane. It was just too risky. “It’ll be fine as long as they don’t start cancelling flights.” Clay reassured. 

The pair started walking to where George’s flight was due to take off. “What will we do if the flight does get cancelled?” George looked up at his friend. “Then… then you’ll come back to my house until the storm is over.” Clay planned, even though he knew the road would be flooded by the time they managed to get on the road. “Ok…” George looked back at the path ahead of them. 

A loud voice from the nearby speakers made George and Clay jump as someone started speaking through them. 

“Flight 1A due to take off at ten fifty is cancelled due to bad weather conditions.” 

George looked at Clay with a worried look. That wasn’t his flight but he knew what was coming next. Clay sighed but continued walking. Maybe the flight won’t be cancelled. 

“Flight 1B due to take off at eleven is also cancelled due to bad weather.” The speakers shouted again. 

“Flight 2A…” Clay began to get anxious at this point. All the flights were being cancelled and they were edging towards the time George’s was taking off at. “Flight 2B…” The flights were dropping out of the large television screen like flies. Any that stayed on had a red dot next to it and read ‘cancelled’. “Flight 3A…” it was so close to George’s flight, Clay might as well have just taken George back to his house and waited the storm out instead. “Flight 3B…” George was so obviously worried as well; he was playing with the collar of his shirt while he listened to the speakers. “Flight 4A…” George sighed and opened his phone and started typing a message to his mother. “And finally, flight 4B due to take off at nine forty five is cancelled due to bad weather conditions. 

That was George’s flight off the list and onto another with a little red dot next to the time. 

“I’m sorry, George.” Clay sighed. “What am I gonna do?” Clay could see George’s eyes becoming glassy. “George… I won’t leave until you’re gone.” Clay reassured his friend. “I’ll stay here until you’re on the plane back to London.” Clay continued. “Look, I think you should first send a text to your mother saying that your flight is being held back because of the storm… then we can go home then I’ll re-book the flight for next week.” Clay tried to calm his panicky friend down. “Ok…” George started to re-type the text he had put in his phone a few minutes earlier. 

A few minutes of typing and re-typing with shaky hands, Clay and George were walking towards the exit. 

“No traveling on the road in any vehicle is suggested. Please stay off the road and be safe.” The speakers shouted another message. “Great. George, you stay right here. I’ll be back with some supplies.” Clay guided George to a chair and started running to the exit and towards his car. He had a few things that he never unpacked on one of his trips to or from college. Luckily for him, the stuff he had was enough to last just about a week. Clay grabbed everything he could, shoved it in one of the bags he kept in the car and ran back inside. “George!” Clay stopped running when his friend came into view. George was about to start talking when the speakers interrupted him. 

“No one can leave the airport due to flooding roads and extreme winds… I hope you all understand and stay safe.” 

George looked at Clay with an annoyed yet somewhat worried look. “What do we do now?” George shrugged. “Well… we could find somewhere to stay… I don’t think we’ll be leaving for a while.” Clay suggested. “Clay, I literally have nothing, my parents will be so mad… and…” George trailed off. “What?” Clay looked down at his friend. “I… it doesn’t matter.” George tried to finish the conversation. “Come on, George. There’s no point hiding anything if we’re gonna be trapped here for about a week.” Clay became more annoyed at his own words. 

“I’m scared of storms… wait, I’m not scared, I just don’t like them.” George said really quickly. “Oh… that’s fine. We’re in an airport. You don’t have to look out the windows if you don’t want to look at the storm.” Once he had finished speaking, Clay bent down slightly and hugged his friend. “What about you?” George pulled away from the hug. “What do you mean?” Clay asked in return. “You have school!” George felt bad for putting Clay in this situation. “George, it’s fine. I’ll email the school and tell them about what happened. I’m sure they already know about the storm…” Clay looked out of the window. The rain was already pattering loudly against the window and the wind was slightly shaking the window panes. 

“What about my stuff… I have nothing and we’re gonna be here for ages.” George continued to worry. “You can borrow some of my things. Stop worrying. If you have a problem with something, it can most probably be solved.” Clay continued to reassure his friend. 

Turns out that he wasn’t the only one doing that either. Small gatherings of teenagers and a few couples were worrying as well. “Once the crowd dies down, should we look for a place to stay?” George asked the taller boy. “Yeah… that’s a good idea.” Clay replied. He wasn’t feeling too happy. He wished he was back at the college with George. He wished that he could sit by the window and look at the rain with him for hours. He wanted Nick and Karl to be there as well. He just wanted things to be back to normal. 

While Clay was thinking to himself, George brought out his phone and checked his messages. He saw a reply to the one he sent to his mother earlier - 

‘oh no… have you got someone with you? One of your friends maybe? Or are you alone? Please reply as soon as you can. Mum x’ 

George started typing a reply -

‘I’m with my friend, Clay. hopefully I should be back by next week.’ 

George sent it just as his friend started talking to him again. “The crowd has thinned out… wanna go look for a place to stay?” Clay offered. “Yeah…” George got up and carried some of Clay’s things. The taller boy took most of the things but George still helped. “We probably don’t want somewhere near the window-” Clay was cut off by a big empty space in front of him. Clearly a lot of people also thought being by the window was a bad idea. “Why not?” George asked. “It’s too loud.” Clay complained. “It’s ok. I like the sound of rain.” George walked towards the empty hall, with only a few couples and groups scattered here and there. 

George went over to the biggest window which had a row of seats in front of it. “I thought you didn’t like storms..?” Clay was surprised at how eager George was to get to the seat that was right next to a window that exposed the bad weather outside. “Yeah… I don’t mind looking at it from a distance.” George drew closer to the window. “Ok…” Clay laughed lightly. 

The pair looked out at the rain that slowly flooded the road and paths outside. They watched as a few remaining people ran for shelter from the storm. The amount of rain falling from the clouds increased rapidly as they sat there. “How long do hurricanes and storms go on for here?” George turned to face his friend. “Uhh… about a week. It depends on how serious it is really. It takes a few days for the storm to pass then a few more days for the effects to wear off.” Clay explained. George nodded and turned back to the window. He gazed at the rain sliding down the window. Eventually he began yawning and fell to his right, leaning on Clay’s shoulder with his eyes shut. 


	5. Marshmallows and Another Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> George has a dream and Clay and George go shopping for a few supplies.

George walked through the empty airport. His footsteps echoed off the walls. He couldn’t remember why he was walking but he continued anyway. On his way to wherever he was going, he noticed the airport was completely empty. No one was behind the desks, no one in any of the shops that lined the long halls and no one waiting for a flight. 

Eventually, George stumbled across a particularly large room, the walls were covered in windows. “Clay?” George saw a familiar boy in a green hoodie staring through the glass. “What do you want, George.” He sounded annoyed. “I- are you ok?” George slowly walked closer to his friend. The palm trees were viciously swaying in the wind. Clearly the hurricane still existed. “Do you hate me?” Clay asked. Just as he asked that, the walls began to crumble and eventually disappear. “W-what?” George began to get cold. He knew this couldn’t be real; if this was real, Clay would hand him his hoodie because he would be able to see George was cold. “Do you hate me?” Clay asked again. “No… I don’t” George tried to smile but it didn’t work. “You don’t seem too sure about it.” Clay replied in a dead tone. “Clay, why would I hate you.” George looked his friend in the eye. 

“You’re lying.” 

“I’m not!” George continued to argue back. “Then why were you shouting at me earlier then?” George had no idea what Clay was talking about. “What? Nothing happened..?” George leaned his head to one side. “I’m leaving.” Clay said before walking into the storm and disappearing into the mist. 

George was alone. 

There was no shelter. There was nothing around him. This couldn’t be real…

\---

George woke up to someone shaking his shoulder viciously. “What are you doing?!” George half-shouted as he squinted up at whoever it was in front of him. “I’m waking you up. You’ve been asleep for two whole hours, idiot.” Clay replied jokingly. “Ok…” George laughed lightly. “You also fell asleep on me so I was slightly annoyed I couldn’t get up for food or something.” Clay complained. After a few seconds, George sat up in his chair and took in his surroundings. He was in a slightly different spot from where they originally were. They had moved away from the window slightly. “Are you ok?” Clay asked. “Uh… yeah, I just had a weird dream.” George explained. “What happened?” Clay tilted his head to one side. 

“Do… you know I don’t hate you, right?” George looked up at his friend. “What? What made you say that?.” Clay said with a worried look. “I- I...” George looked at the floor. “Just… will you leave me before I leave to go back to London?” George continued to ask questions. “No… George, are you ok? What was the dream about?” Clay asked. “Well… it’s kind of difficult to explain…” George started, “Uhh… you know that dream you told me about a while ago when you were on a rooftop and I was there?” George asked. “Oh, yeah. I can’t get away from it.” Clay said, sounding slightly annoyed. 

“Right… basically, I was walking through the airport and I found a dead end with a really large window and… and you were there. You were looking out at the storm and it was really dark. Then you asked if I hate you… then I said no… then the whole airport started to crumble around us… it was terrifying. Then we were left out in the storm. You said I was lying after I told you I didn’t hate you for the second time… then you told me you were leaving. I was left on my own in the storm.” George felt tears sting his eyes. “George, I won’t leave you alone until you’re on your way back to London.” Clay reassured again. “Thanks…” was all George thought he could say at that time. 

George got his phone out of his pocket and saw a message from Nick. it read - ‘is the flight going ok?’ George sighed and unlocked his phone to reply. ‘No, I’m stuck at the airport with Clay.’ then he sent another message simply saying ‘there’s a hurricane idiot’ George laughed quietly to himself before turning his phone and paying more attention to his friend who was currently poking his shoulder. “What?” George turned to face his friend. “Do you want food?” Clay offered. “Yeah, there’s a Starbucks somewhere. Also, can you stop poking my shoulder?” George tried to stay serious but ended up laughing. “No.” Clay got up and continued to tap George’s shoulder as they walked with their shared luggage. “I’ll pay for it.” Clay said as they started to walk. 

The usual crowds that walk around the airport had died down a bit and the only remaining crowds were people looking for somewhere with food or angry parents trying to entertain their kids. George was giving an apologetic smile to one of the parents when he heard a phone ring. “It’s in my pocket, you can answer it.” Clay instructed while still looking around the airport for somewhere to eat. 

“Hello?” George called into the phone. “Oh, hey George… can I talk to Clay?” George looked up at his friend and said “he wants to talk to you.” Clay took the phone from the smaller boy and started talking. “Hello Nick.” Clay sounded bored and tired but Nick didn’t take any notice of it. “CLAY! You are missing out on so much here!” Nick started, sounding excited. “I’m sure I am. Being stuck in a school with a hurricane outside. I’d love that.” Clay stated sarcastically. “Nooo, what I mean is lessons have been cancelled, there’s a party, and the teachers are letting us have the party!” Nick half-shouted. “Wow, I’m sure parties are definitely your sort of thing.” Clay yawned. “You sound tired.” Nick said blankly. “Can you tell?” Clay replied angrily. “Ok, ok.” Nick trailed off. 

“Uhh… Clay… I think we’re lost.” George pointed out. “Really?” Clay sighed. George could hear Nick laughing on the other end of the phone. “Sorry Nick, I gotta go.” Clay hung up before saying goodbye and immediately began to look around. “There’s a store over there we can buy a few things from.” Clay started walking towards the small shop. 

When the pair walked in, George immediately ran for a bag of snacks he saw on a shelf. “Why do you want marshmallows..?” Clay looked at his friend with a confused expression. “I loved these as a kid!” George half-shouted. “Ok… we’ll need to buy more than just a bag of marshmallows…” Clay laughed lightly. They walked several laps around the small shop before eventually paying for their items and walking off to find a new space to stay. 

“How are we gonna sleep?” George looked up at his friend while they were still walking. “What do you mean?” Clay asked. “We don’t have any beds or blankets or anything, so what are we gonna do? It’s freezing in here.” George complained. “Oh, stop being such a child. We’ll just sleep on the floor.” Clay suggested. “That- no, no that’ll be uncomfortable. Also, I’m not a child.” George pointed out. “Ok, sure.” Clay laughed. “I’ll just sleep on the chairs.” George concluded. “Ok, what are you gonna do about being cold?” Clay brought up. “Oh, I’ll just put another jumper on or something.” George said. “Your luggage isn’t here though.” Clay reminded his friend. He seemed to really like thinking of problems for George to sort out. 

“Well- I’ll just… I’ll just…” George trailed off. He sighed before giving in to his friend, “Do you have a spare jumper or something that I can wear..?” George squinted. “Yep.” Clay told his friend. “Ok… thanks.” George replied. “There’s a space over there!” Clay pointed to a completely empty row of chairs pushed up against the wall and a line of tall windows. George ran straight for the chairs; he hadn’t sat down in what felt like ages. “You know we can’t keep moving around, and we’ll have to find somewhere to permanently stay for the week… right?” Clay looked down at his friend. “Yeah… I think we should stay here.” George took one of Clay’s bags and set it on one of the chairs. “You can have one of my jumpers now.” Clay pointed to a bag that had several sets of clothes inside. “Thanks…” 

George looked through the bag and pulled out a green hoodie with a black smiley face printed on the front. George remembered it from somewhere… but where? George thought about the past week and the amount of things that had happened. It was quiet in their part of the airport. This gave George time to think about what had happened. He thought about the parties and the hours him and Clay spent playing Minecraft together. But most importantly, he thought about the rooftop and the city of lights he had faced earlier that month. Then he remembered about how he had told Clay that he’ll think about their relationship and whether they’ll take it further or not. Finally he had time to think about it. 

“I’m gonna call Nick back.” Clay snapped George out of his train of thought. “Ok…” George reached over a few seats to where the bag of marshmallows was sitting. 

“Hello?” Clay heard a voice from the other end of the phone. “Uhh… hello?” Clay didn’t think this voice was Nick’s… and the speaker was shouting. “Clay?” The voice from the phone continued to shout. “Is that you, Karl?” Clay thought he recognised the voice. “Oh, hey Clay. I’m at a party right now.” Karl was still shouting. “Yeah… can I talk to Nick, please?” Clay winced at how loud his friend was. After a few seconds, he heard what sounded like laughing, then a sound that informed him that the other phone had hung up. Clay sighed and put his phone in his pocket. 

“What do you wanna do? I’m bored.” Clay stated. “I don’t know, just sit here?” George replied. For once, he didn’t want to do anything. He just wanted to organize his thoughts. “I’m just… I don’t know.” George sighed. “I understand. I think I’ll sleep for a bit.” Clay shut his eyes in an attempt to fall asleep while George sat there in shock at how his friend didn't question anything he said. “Ok… I’ll stay here.” George pulled out his phone and a power bank from one of Clay’s bags. 


End file.
